^Yes, exactly. Letting go of things that represent you (or your family) of ten years ago opens up space for the you that will evolve through the present and future. It doesn't mean that the past doesn't have value, only that it doesn't have to *define* us.
If I still surrounded myself with the things that represented the personality and worldview I had during college, I would not have space to be the much happier, more productive (and, I think, more interesting) person I am now, twenty years on.
Which is why I am all in favor of present-day communication and images - email or a blog or Skype or a regularly-updated digital frame or whatever is needed to keep the face and voice of Today familiar to those who are distant. The photo from my parents' wedding is lovely but it isn't Them in the here and now.
It takes a long time for people to get used to other peoples' evolutions. My mom had a health crisis ten years ago and that's when she started using email. Our relationship has really grown because of it (as noted elsewhere, we live 3000 miles apart). Since I started my blog - it is not personal notes and quotidien trivia - she has been able to see sides of me that simply don't come up in family conversation.
It's not optimal to have people still expect You of 1980 when You of 2010 comes to the door. I think it's also not great to have people who know You of 2010 come into your home and think "jeesch, it's a time machine!"
